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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

When Catherine Kaptain turned on the evening news and saw her son John being struck with his own shoe in a fight with the Boston Bruins, her disdain for the sport her family loved never seemed more justified. “I screamed, ‘They’re beating up my babies!’ ” she said.

Thirty years ago, on Dec. 23, 1979, Bruins defenseman Mike Milbury whacked John Kaptain, a Rangers fan from New Jersey, with a shoe during a bizarre altercation in which all but one Bruins player went over the glass and into the stands at Madison Square Garden. The incident, after a 4-3 Bruins victory, resulted in three players being suspended, lawsuits and the installation of higher glass in the arena. It remains one of the most memorable fan-athlete confrontations in sports.

It all unfolded after Phil Esposito of the Rangers smashed his stick on the ice and skated off to the locker room after failing to convert a breakaway in the waning seconds. When the buzzer sounded, Al Secord, Boston’s rugged left wing, decked the Rangers’ Ulf Nilsson.............

pic: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The Bruins' Mike Milbury being restrained. He and all but one of his teammates went into the stands after a victory over the Rangers.

note: espo was a RANGER (ewwwwwwwwwwwwww) when the melee took place. i'd NEVER post a pic of him in a RANGER uniform